Opting for bikes over festivities this year, we set off early on May 1st through the streets of Berlin, and out into Brandenburg, with nine days and 700 km ahead of us. What began as a mere idea in a dingy bar on a chilly October evening had finally realized itself – and as we passed by small idyllic towns and through the forests of Brandenburg, stopping for Fischbrötchen and a cold lake swim, it was hard to feel any regret for the party we had left behind. Our route took us to Mecklenburg, passing through blooming meadows and the dense woods of Müritz National Park. Early one morning, we spotted deer before skirting over the top of the awe-inspiring expanse of Lake Müritz, Germany’s largest inland lake. In the lakeside town of Waren, we clinked glasses as we reached the end of the German leg of our journey. From Rostock, a two-hour ferry carried us to Gedser, the southern tip of Denmark, where a street lined with Danish flags greeted us (only adding to the emotive feeling of having crossed an entire country by bike). In Denmark, we cycled through the rural countryside, past fields of aptly named meadow plums, barely touching civilization.

Rolling through green pastures, greeting cows at the corners of farms, and enjoying lunch on sandy beaches by the Baltic Sea, I quickly felt detached from my day to day life. A sense of calm and contentment washed over me, knowing that my only responsibility was to get on the bike each morning. I had become a bike person. For our final days of the trip, we cycled around the island of Møn, riding above the chalky cliffs of the UNESCO site Møns Klint before descending into Copenhagen. The trip was not without its challenges, but they only deepened the sense of achievement. At the end of each day, the beer tasted a little better, the ice cream a little sweeter, and after crossing over the threshold into Copenhagen, I was left feeling lost that it had ended. So much so that at 8 am that next morning, I got back on my bike and cycled through the streets of Copenhagen, in search of coffee and cardamom buns.

Text & photos: Toby Sheppard

Toby is a Berlin-based photographer, regularly taking photos whilst travelling, be it Lanzarote, his home in Northern England, or a bike trip to Copenhagen, his work often explores the beauty in unoccupied spaces as well as the studios and spaces of artists that inspire him.

@tobyshepp